N.Z. BETTING AND DRINKING

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26985, 10 March 1953, Page 10

N.Z. BETTING AND DRINKING

Minister’s Statement Criticised

«NOT AN INDICATION OF PROSPERITY”

(New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, March 9. “The Minister of Labour (Mr W. Sullivan) made a damning indictment of New Zealanders in one of the most fatuous statements ever made by a Minister of the Crown when he addressed the Auckland Creditmen s Club last week,” said the Rev. C. L. Clements in a sermon at St. Peters Methodist Church, Invereargill, last night. He was referring to the Minister’s -claim that increases in betting figures and the consumption of beer, meat, and butter indicated the prosperity of the Dominion. “As reported, this statement by the Minister is not an indication of prosperity in the Dominion at all, but is further, proof, if we needed lurther proof, that New Zealanders have become the most materialistic people m the world,” Mr Clements said. “One< of the biggest jokes that is perpetrated' in New Zealand from time to time is when a public speaker accuses the Russian Communist of being a materialist, with the smug implication that New Zealanders all believers in spiritual values. This would be a bitter joke, but it is more than that—it is a tragedy holding within itself nothing but danger for -the future of New Zealand“All the judgments of most people in New Zealand are based on material considerations,” he added. ‘ ‘We pathetically worship money, and everyone seems to think that the possession of material wealth is a sure sign that one has ‘got on.’ “Girls sye concerned when they fall in'love to see that they fall in love with someone with money? No other consideration seems to count. Seldom do we hear people appraising a man’s worth by judging his spiritual growth or his goodness, his generosity, tolerance, or good humour. “And now, we have this appalling statement that beer swilled,-money gambled, and meat and butter fed into our already overfed bodies is a mark of prosperity. Economic Soundness Doubted

“I have a suspicion that the Minister’s statement is not even a sound one frbm an economic point of view, Mr Clements said. “Words do not mean anything at all if beer drinking, gambling, wallowing in butter, and chewing juicy steaks can be called an indication of prosperity. These figures really indicate our coarseness, greed, and stupidity. “Overseas visitors—not the rush-through-the-country tourist, complaining about our hotels and licensing laws, but the sort we ought to listen to—tell us again and again that there is nd real appreciation of the arts in New Zealand. We are not producing fine and gracious living. The artist gets a poor hearing in; this country. We are prouder of . our footballers than we are of Richard Farrell, and if the ‘lce Follies’ were here on the same night as Yehudi Menuhin the ‘lce Follies’ would get the vote of the average New Zealander.

Scholarships and Qharities “Scholarship is rewarded in niggardly fashion. Pure science and research struggle for recognition, and even fin‘e and worthy causes like. Plunket and the Blind Institute depend on wretched street days so that public-minded citizens have to go, cap in hand, to the passing crowds to get a small coin from them as they push into the hotels.

“I know we are a small country.” said Mr Clements. “I know we are far removed from the centres, of civilisation. I know we are still busy getting -our country out of the pioneering era. But in Heaven’s name, is it necessary, for us to become as bovine as the animals who give us our vaunted wealth? “Mr Sullivan’s revelation of ourprosperity also indicates our greed. You and I evidently eat 237.51 b of meat a year and 42.71 b of butter, even if we are teatotallers. If we drink, we get through 18 gallons of beer. “These figures indicate our stupidity too. We do not know where our true prosperity lies. We have a pathetic belief in things; our flashy surface prosperity only hides for a moment the rottenness that saps our true life away. “We must get it firmly fixed in our minds once and for all that the spiritual, mental, and cultural values are the true values, that if we are bankrupt in those things, then possessing all the ready cash in the world does nof make us prosperous. “If Mr Sullivan’s values were right, then Jesus was a failure.” MR SULLIVAN’S . REPLY “ FIGURES QUOTED WERE FACTUAL ” (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 9. The Minister of Labour (Mr W. Sullivan) said tonight it was a matter of opinion whether increases in beer consumption and totalisator investments were good for the country. He personally did not think so. “However, the figures. I quoted were factual, and showed the availability of ready money to spend on beer and to invest on racehorses,” he said.